First gig with the x70 at DVinfo.net

John Blanker · October 1st, 2015, 11:43 AM

I bought this camera in anticipation of a gig that eventually fell though. So last weekend was my first time using it!

I found 2 things that were baffling to me: (more to come im sure)

The 3 buttons on the side for aperture, gain, and shutter speed. There's no "hold" mode? In other words, my aperture and shutter speeds were set. No need to adjust them for this gig. But I did need to adjust the gain throughout. So, the gain was highlighted on the camera. If I made the mistake and hit the button again, auto mode would kick in and make the screen super bright. If I left it on manual (highlighted) then I run the risk of accidentally hitting the small knob and screwing up the shot. This seems really tricky.

I also had a lot of focus hunting going on. I filmed a Chorus show. I had focus on auto with face detection on. Naturally, there were boxes all over the chorus members faces. I used the arrow buttons to select the priority face (double box), and pressed enter on the little joystick but it didn't stick. The orange box kept floating to different faces.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

David Dixon · October 1st, 2015, 02:10 PM

No hold mode that I know of. I found that with time adjusting by feel gets more intuitive. In fact, I've read a few folks commenting that due to the dial's small size and placement it was *difficult* to find and adjust on the fly. In months with the camera I've never accidentally changed it. I think you'll get used to this soon.

Autofocus is another matter. I love the camera, but AF is pretty good but not amazing. It's not a frequent problem, but at times it's just oddly slow to lock on, especially if the subject doesn't fill a large part of the center of the frame. OTOH there have been times when someone walked thru the frame in front of my subject and I was glad that the AF ignored it :-)

And I'm sure it's me, but I've had little luck using face detection. Maybe I need to study it and practice more.

Paul Anderegg · October 2nd, 2015, 02:35 AM

If the BUTTON is in AUTO, and you hit it again changing to MANUAL, it will HOLD or stop at whatever value it was adjusting at that moment.

The SAFEST thing for you to do is HIGHLIGHT iris as your default, as accidentally touching the iris wouldn't be noticeable unless you did some massive rotations of the little wheel!

I find the three button setup infuriating at times, but the best thing about it is it allows you to bump gain 3db up and and down at will. If the damn little camera had an iris ring, it would be 10x more usable!!!!!!!

Paul

Noa Put · October 2nd, 2015, 02:59 AM

The easiest way for me to control my exposure is to lock the shutter, as that should never change during a recording and then highlight the iso and aperture, when you then turn the little wheel on the camera the camera first opens up the iris and once that is wide open it will start to increase the gain, same applies if you go the other way round it will keep the iris wide open as long as there is gain added and once there is no gain applied it will start to close the iris.

I see no need in locking the aperture, unless I want to achieve and hold some shallow dof but 99% of my shot's shallow dof doesn't even come into play because I have front to back sharpness.

David Dixon · October 2nd, 2015, 07:17 AM

Well, except that on the X70 you can't highlight both the Gain and Iris, and once the Iris goes to 2.8 continuing to turn the adjustment wheel won't start changing the Gain or anything else.

I usually do lock both Shutter and Iris (as I almost always have a desired DOF in mind) and just use the Gain and (on the X70) the ND filters to adjust from there.

John Blanker · October 2nd, 2015, 07:49 AM

Thanks guys, this helps. I have seen where adjusting the iris does change the gain if the gain is set to auto and your adjusting the iris manually. Might have to go into the menus and change some settings.

I had the NX7OU before this and that camera had had this strange bug: If the gain was on auto and you were adjusting the iris, it would not wait for the iris to be completely open before raising the gain.

I'm guessing this has been fixed on this camera. I will experiment.

David Dixon · October 2nd, 2015, 08:21 AM

Ah, yes - I have the Gain limited, so that keeps it from going higher even if Gain is set to auto.

Noa Put · October 2nd, 2015, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Dixon

Well, except that on the X70 you can't highlight both the Gain and Iris

That's weird, I was referring to my ax100 which I expected to have the same functionality to adjust these settings, looks like typically Sony to make changes between models that make no sense.

October 1st, 2015, 11:43 AM	#1
John Blanker New Boot Join Date: May 2015 Location: Medford NY Posts: 15	First gig with the x70 I bought this camera in anticipation of a gig that eventually fell though. So last weekend was my first time using it! I found 2 things that were baffling to me: (more to come im sure) The 3 buttons on the side for aperture, gain, and shutter speed. There's no "hold" mode? In other words, my aperture and shutter speeds were set. No need to adjust them for this gig. But I did need to adjust the gain throughout. So, the gain was highlighted on the camera. If I made the mistake and hit the button again, auto mode would kick in and make the screen super bright. If I left it on manual (highlighted) then I run the risk of accidentally hitting the small knob and screwing up the shot. This seems really tricky. I also had a lot of focus hunting going on. I filmed a Chorus show. I had focus on auto with face detection on. Naturally, there were boxes all over the chorus members faces. I used the arrow buttons to select the priority face (double box), and pressed enter on the little joystick but it didn't stick. The orange box kept floating to different faces. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

October 1st, 2015, 02:10 PM	#2
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: First gig with the x70 No hold mode that I know of. I found that with time adjusting by feel gets more intuitive. In fact, I've read a few folks commenting that due to the dial's small size and placement it was difficult to find and adjust on the fly. In months with the camera I've never accidentally changed it. I think you'll get used to this soon. Autofocus is another matter. I love the camera, but AF is pretty good but not amazing. It's not a frequent problem, but at times it's just oddly slow to lock on, especially if the subject doesn't fill a large part of the center of the frame. OTOH there have been times when someone walked thru the frame in front of my subject and I was glad that the AF ignored it :-) And I'm sure it's me, but I've had little luck using face detection. Maybe I need to study it and practice more.

October 2nd, 2015, 02:35 AM	#3
Paul Anderegg Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: San Diego, Califonia Posts: 1,559	Re: First gig with the x70 If the BUTTON is in AUTO, and you hit it again changing to MANUAL, it will HOLD or stop at whatever value it was adjusting at that moment. The SAFEST thing for you to do is HIGHLIGHT iris as your default, as accidentally touching the iris wouldn't be noticeable unless you did some massive rotations of the little wheel! I find the three button setup infuriating at times, but the best thing about it is it allows you to bump gain 3db up and and down at will. If the damn little camera had an iris ring, it would be 10x more usable!!!!!!! Paul

October 2nd, 2015, 02:59 AM	#4
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: First gig with the x70 The easiest way for me to control my exposure is to lock the shutter, as that should never change during a recording and then highlight the iso and aperture, when you then turn the little wheel on the camera the camera first opens up the iris and once that is wide open it will start to increase the gain, same applies if you go the other way round it will keep the iris wide open as long as there is gain added and once there is no gain applied it will start to close the iris. I see no need in locking the aperture, unless I want to achieve and hold some shallow dof but 99% of my shot's shallow dof doesn't even come into play because I have front to back sharpness.

October 2nd, 2015, 07:17 AM	#5
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: First gig with the x70 Well, except that on the X70 you can't highlight both the Gain and Iris, and once the Iris goes to 2.8 continuing to turn the adjustment wheel won't start changing the Gain or anything else. I usually do lock both Shutter and Iris (as I almost always have a desired DOF in mind) and just use the Gain and (on the X70) the ND filters to adjust from there.

October 2nd, 2015, 07:49 AM	#6
John Blanker New Boot Join Date: May 2015 Location: Medford NY Posts: 15	Re: First gig with the x70 Thanks guys, this helps. I have seen where adjusting the iris does change the gain if the gain is set to auto and your adjusting the iris manually. Might have to go into the menus and change some settings. I had the NX7OU before this and that camera had had this strange bug: If the gain was on auto and you were adjusting the iris, it would not wait for the iris to be completely open before raising the gain. I'm guessing this has been fixed on this camera. I will experiment.

October 2nd, 2015, 08:21 AM	#7
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: First gig with the x70 Ah, yes - I have the Gain limited, so that keeps it from going higher even if Gain is set to auto.